felt recoil

grumpyvette

grumpyvette

Administrator
Staff member
Felt rifle recoil is not always, simply a mater of stock fit,
cartridge used and the rifles weight, yes theres calculators that can be used to simplify the related math
but theres other factors like the proper use of a sling and the position your in when firing a rifle, that can make a huge difference in perceived recoil.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmrecoil-5.1.cgi

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

one example is my buddies 338 savage bolt action.
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HE PURCHASED A 1.25INCH thick recoil pad
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I remember one rifle very well,RONS 338 win, he even bought a thick recoil pad as he thought it might require one for him to tolerate the recoil, even carefully installed it himself, then used his belt sander to carefully fit it to his stock contour...what he FAILED to notice during the process was that the TIP of the detachable screw driver he used (SEE RED ARROW) had remained fully embedded inside the recoil pad when he had tightened the upper retaining screw in the recoil pad with the easily foreseeable result being that the small phillips, screw driver bit was always perfectly lined up with his shoulder so after 3 shots his shoulder was really badly bruised , he asked me to try the rifle, after a single shot I looked at the pad and FOUND THE GUILTY PARTY, and we still joke about that little over-site!
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prefit-pads-lge.jpg
 
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when I wrote about this little screw-up I thought it was a rather unique problem.
well I turns out that RON, was not the only person to screw up installing a thick recoil reduction pad on a heavy caliber rifle .
It seems that Jack was at a rifle range up in the Orlando area and some guy was swearing his newly purchased 458 win,
was kicking the crap out of his shoulder and offered to sell it to JACK for $700 which was a very low price,
so jack went to the local ATM, to get what he could and wrote the guy a check for the balance owed and as a result he purchased,
a nearly new remington 458 win , for what was effectively dirt cheap!
the next trip to the range Jack fired one shot and knew something was seriously wrong as Jack has owned several 458 win rifles!
a little inspection time and he located the same problem, source, and after removing the small phillips screw driver tip he said ,
it totally transformed the rifle and he had to laugh at the issue as he remembered me talking about that a decade earlier
 
I just got back from a local range today, I took a neighbor that only owned and previously shot an AR15, I took my 450 marlin BLR, and he was almost totally convinced,
that shooting a large bore rifle like that would result in recoil levels that would require reconstructive surgery after it knocked him into next week!
after watching me closely and, seeing me consistently shoot 1" 50 yard groups off the bench rest and play knocking rocks off the back stop berm, shooting off hand,
, having him slip in my shooting vest with its sewn in PAST recoil pad in the shoulder he decided to try "one shot"
I on purpose pretended to load the BLR in 450 marlin and let him squeeze off "the first shot" on an empty chamber.... yeah, he made a fool of himself when the rifle just clicked.
I pretended to load a second round, with similar results, then I showed him again carefully how to use the sling and hold the rifle, with a live cartridge, he had to admit the recoil was easily manageable.
after he became less apprehensive, he did reasonably well, and could hit a coke can at 50 yards shooting off hand......he even seemed to enjoy the experience, after a few shots.
I load 50 grains of IMR3031 under a 405 remington bullet, thats good for about 1870 fps, and I know for a fact its deadly on deer and elk.
I may or may not have a larger bore rifle convert, but at least hes more knowledgable and less inclined to think all big bore rifles will kick your a$$ with excessive recoil.
 
one of the guys I've hunted with occasionally for decades,
stopped over and we had some coffee and discussed reloading for his 270 Winchester
caliber Ruger #1 rifle.
he mentioned the fact that he had located, very good deal on a very lightly used,
and a rather rare, Ruger #1 in caliber 35 whelen,
but he was reluctant to purchase it due to his idea that the recoil would be abusive.
I suggested he grab the rifle at the huge bargain price and he might want to invest,
in a recoil absorbing shoulder pad that he could sew into his hunting vest,
as that alone would very significantly reduce the modest felt recoil level.
and I pointed out that there were also slip-on recoil pads available for the rifles buttstock,
I also suggested he do some quick math, the recoil level is just not that much higher than his current 270 win,
the recoil level with his current 270 Ruger is at about 21 ft-lbs
the recoil level with his proposed Ruger purchase is at about 28 ft-lbs
with a typical scope mounts and using a sling that calculated recoil would be closer to about 26 ft-lbs
yes, its noticeable but hardly abusive, many 30/06 loads,
would reach a 25 -27 ft-lbs recoil level in a similar rifle, and those calculations are based on a rifle weight without a scope,
once you add a scope and know how to properly use a sling,
and use a vest with a shoulder pad, I'm certain he will easily handle the modest felt recoil.
frankly its not enough of a potential problem,
I offered to let him borrow my 35 whelen and my shooting vest,
just so he could try it out if he had any doubts.

http://www.shooterscalculator.com/recoil-calculator.php
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https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....yr-decelerator-magnum-slip-on-pad-large-brown
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https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/item/00094330110/super-mag-plus-recoil-shield-ambidextrous

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Ive used a hunting vest with a sewn-in recoil pad for 4 decades, and its helpful but hardly required ,
and even my 375 H&H sako carbine that has a recoil level calculated up near 41 ft lbs, and my 450 marlin BLR is at nearly 39 ft lbs
both are rather easy to shoot accurately without that padded vest,
with the vest its a snap....even off the bench rest for a few dozen shots!
but Id point out you rarely get more than one or at most two shots while big game hunting with a rifle ,
its not like shooting trap with a 12 ga where you might go through 100- 200 shots in a few hours and you certainly would get far more abuse doing that.
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I loaded up some somewhat hot 45/70 rounds 405gr bullets don't recall powders because I was experimenting around but I was fireing different loads and weights but the 405 gr got my attention so I went to the truck to get my vest now none of the loads were max just towards the upper end
 
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